Texans quietly soul-searching after rout

The Texans have been stumbling since the Patriots embarrassed them on national TV. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )

The Texans’ mood couldn’t be described as glum Wednesday, nor did the locker room feel anything approaching morgue-like. But the usual banter and horseplay was in short supply. It didn’t feel like the holiday season anymore. Christmas had been a blue one for Houston’s suddenly off-track AFC South champions.

“We played bad,” defensive end J.J. Watt said of the 23-6 loss to Minnesota. “We want to rectify that.”

How?

“We just need to be us,” Watt said. “Go out there and establish ourselves and be who we are.”

Or were. That’s the problem. The Texans’ identity is much in question after two losses in the last three games, when they’ve hardly been the team that produced an AFC-high eight Pro Bowlers. The offense has stopped scoring, managing just four touchdowns of consequence over the past 14 quarters. The defense — save for Watt — has been, at best, inconsistent and, at worst, in disarray. Another conspicuous statistic: Zero interceptions with the outcome remotely in doubt over the three weeks.

Momentum is everything this time of the year, and the Texans have none, which is why they’re playing what should have been a throwaway game in Indianapolis on Sunday that linebacker Brooks Reed felt compelled to call “the biggest game of the year.” At stake — again — is a first-round playoff bye and the home-field advantage through a hoped-for AFC Championship Game, which would be unprecedented in the city’s checkered NFL history.

Angst in the air
Except look what the home field got them against the Vikings (never mind against the Packers a number of weeks earlier). Reliant Stadium was three-fourths empty by the middle of the fourth quarter, and many of the fans who remained did so only to rain their displeasure down upon the Texans. Despite their 12-3 record — also a high-water mark in these parts through 15 games — nobody in town is exactly riding waves of euphoria.

Instead, there’s angst in the air — although the Texans are saying all the right things and attempting to put a glossy spin on their do-over opportunity to secure the conference’s top seed in Indy, where the 10-5 Colts will be waiting with nothing at stake. Well, nothing except trying to make cancer-stricken head coach Chuck Pagano’s emotional return to the sideline a triumphant one.

Talk about a potential buzz-saw environment … in a place where the Texans are 0-10 over the years.

“Right now (in the middle of the week), fire and intensity looks like focus,” defensive end Antonio Smith said, attempting to explain away the team’s somber, subdued mood. “You can tell by the silence that everybody is trying to figure out what they need to do to make it a different outcome from last week.”

Trailing the Vikings 13-3 at halftime, the Texans came out with barely an audible whimper, much less a bang. Over the final 30 minutes, they gained 80 yards, making only five first downs. A Shayne Graham field goal, his seventh in the last two games, was all they had to show for the time they held the football, which wasn’t much. The NFL’s leaders in time-of-possession all season spent less than 3½ minutes on offense in the fourth quarter.

Sunday’s effort included a season-worst 1-for-11 on third-down conversions. And that stat is best explained by the nine third-and-long situations quarterback Matt Schaub found himself in.

“We have to execute better on first and second down,” Schaub said. “We have to eliminate some of the penalties we have going on and negative plays early in the down and distance. We have to keep (third-down situations) more manageable.”

Introspection, Schaub insisted, must be part of the solution.

“When you feel good about the week of preparation and then what went on happens on Sunday, it is somewhat puzzling,” he said. “Everyone’s got to take a hard look at themselves in the mirror and figure out why things happened, how to correct them.”

Regaining momentum
Added offensive coordinator Rick Dennison: “The point has been made year in and year out the team with the most momentum going into the playoffs tends to win the entire thing. Certainly you don’t want to be faltering going into the playoffs. So we’re going to go back to the grindstone.”

Toward that end, coach Gary Kubiak reported that the Texans hustled through a lively practice with everyone, players and coaches, dutifully locked in on the gravity of the mission at hand. But Kubiak also conceded his team had practiced splendidly the previous week and things still went bad not long after the kickoff.

“Mental preparations never change,” Kubiak said. “It’s the same all the time Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, how you put in a game plan, how you go about what you do. (But) transferring that to game day is essential. Obviously, we didn’t take it to the field and get it done (against the Vikings). So it’s very disappointing, but you have to come right back the next week.

“It’s not going to change what we do, but we definitely need to change how we did it. I know that.”

Photo: Nick de la Torre / Houston Chronicle

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Texans running back Arian Foster (23) fumbles as he is hit by Vikings linebackers Jasper Brinkley (54) and Erin Henderson (50) for a turnover during the second quarter.

Texans running back Arian Foster (23) fumbles as he is hit by Vikings linebackers Jasper Brinkley (54) and Erin Henderson (50) for a turnover during the second quarter.

Photo: Nick de la Torre / Houston Chronicle

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A Texans fan reacts during the fourth quarter of the loss to the Vikings.

A Texans fan reacts during the fourth quarter of the loss to the Vikings.

Photo: Karen Warren / Houston Chronicle

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Minnesota defensive tackle Fred Evans (90) drops Texans quarterback Matt Schaub (8) for a 14-yard loss during the third quarter. The play came on a third-and-goal at the Vikings 1-yard line, forcing the Texans to settle for a field goal. less

Minnesota defensive tackle Fred Evans (90) drops Texans quarterback Matt Schaub (8) for a 14-yard loss during the third quarter. The play came on a third-and-goal at the Vikings 1-yard line, forcing the Texans ... more

Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle

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Texans fan Chris Lockridge reacts after the Vikings scored a touchdown to take a 23-6 lead during the fourth quarter.

Texans fan Chris Lockridge reacts after the Vikings scored a touchdown to take a 23-6 lead during the fourth quarter.